Samira Wiley Says She Was Accidentally Outed by ‘OITNB’ Cast Member

Actress Samira Wiley revealed that she was accidentally outed by an Orange is the New Black (OITNB) cast member when she first joined the series.

Wiley, who played the lesbian character Poussey Washington on the Netflix show, was on WNYC’s Nancy podcast on Monday when she revealed how her accidental outing led her to tears.

“From the beginning, I was playing a gay character, I always thought of her in that way… [but] first season, I wasn’t out at all,” she said, per Pink News. “But someone from the cast actually, was doing an interview and talking about out gay actors in the cast. They mentioned my name and I saw it in print, and I cried. I cried a lot.”

Wiley, who is a lesbian in real life, got married to OITNB writer Lauren Morelli in 2017.

TheHandmaid’s Tale star didn’t reveal which one of her former castmates revealed the news and which publication initially ran the story, but said her playing Washington helped her love herself.

“I tried to get it taken down. Look, I had a journey, I was not always a super open-hearted gay gay-mo!” said Wiley. “I wasn’t out in the beginning, but I think falling in love with [the character of] Poussey helped me fall in love with myself as well.”